Saturday, 29 November 2014

James opened their short two-date tour of
Portugal with a sold out show at the Multiusos de Guimaraes and a nod to the
local Pinheiro festival as well as tracks from their 2014 La Petite Mort
alongside back catalogue classics.

Friday, 28 November 2014

From There To Here is the soundtrack to the BBC TV drama of the same name, set in the aftermath of the 1996 Manchester bomb. It features sixteen instrumental pieces as well as three complete songs from I Am Kloot’s back catalogue.

Thursday, 27 November 2014

An ornate historic Portuguese railway station in the centre of the country's second city isn't your traditional gig venue, but James played a short six-song set to two thousand people ahead of two arena dates later this week.

The Miserable Rich are back with a double album - a live album recorded in Frankfurt on their 2012 tour and an album of cover versions recorded over the past six years. Hopefully this and their recent short tour of Germany and Austria are a precursor to them getting back in the studio and on the road.

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

Twenty-five years on from its release, Jesus Jones' debut album Liquidizer gets a deluxe 2 cd plus dvd re-issue. As perhaps the defining album of my first six months at University, it feels only right and proper to revisit it.

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Take one of early 2000s agit-pop nearly-made-its Easyworld and add a singer who's been touring the UK as Buddy Holly for the past couple of years and put them together and what you get is The Telepathic Evils. They've just revealed their first demo track Bad Behaviour and we think it's something rather special.

Sixty Minute Man are a six-piece Manchester band readying their debut EP for release with the preview of a song from it called Weightlessness and they play FAC 251 in Manchester this Saturday supporting The Wilde and Cardinal.

Sunday, 23 November 2014

Saturday night in Birmingham and we’re in the soulless pit of the NIA waiting for James to transcend the appalling organization of the place, half-built facilities, stupid rules and the general feeling that this is all a terrible inconvenience to those in charge of ensuring people’s visit to their place of work. Thank God music usually always wins.

Saturday, 22 November 2014

There's a story in music legend about when Dylan went electric and completely changed his music that had made him popular. Headlining the first night of the Whisky Sessions, I Am Kloot delivered a set that, in their own world, had exactly that impact, playing not a single song from their last, and most successful by far, Top Ten album Let It All In.

Friday, 21 November 2014

The Miserable Rich continued their German/Austrian tour with a show in Wiesbaden at the Schlachthof. Gudrun from Karlsruhe very kindly offered to review the show for us as part of her work for her own Meinzuhause blog.

Thursday, 20 November 2014

The Miserable Rich are one of our favourite bands and since they took a break in 2012, we've been nagging them to get back together. We weren't the only ones it seems as they announced four dates in Germany and Austria. Inga B very kindly offered to review the opening night at Hannover's Feinkost Lampe.

Ahead of their forthcoming UK tour with The Crookes, Laurel Canyons release their new EP Now We're Rebuilding, their first since signing to Hit Or Heist. In a time where their native Sheffield is producing a conveyor belt of bands with beautiful harmonies, Laurel Canyons take a darker, more esoteric route with this EP, but with no less success.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

We've been fans of David Ford back from his days in agit-poppers Easyworld and through ten years and four albums of his solo career. He's back with a seven-track release called The Arrangement, recorded with a string section and he's about to tour the record. We caught up with him for a chat.

Saturday, 15 November 2014

As James' La Petite Mort tour reaches its first weekend, the size of venues grows as they enter arena territory starting at Liverpool's Echo Arena. We watched them walk the tightrope between crowd pleasing hits and their desire to challenge their audience with curveballs and unusual song choices.

Friday, 14 November 2014

Having just released a second track entitled Arthur, the digital b-side to her first track Lucid, Kelly Lee Owens has marked herself out as one of the artists to watch in 2015 as she prepares her debut album which is being recorded with Ghost Culture.

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

The Reveurs have been steadily building a following over the past twelve months. Their second official release Control is out on Monday and it's a massive step-up for them sonically. They launch it with a gig at the Ducie Bridge in Manchester this Saturday. We're proud to exclusively reveal the single here and have a chat with front man Gary Nelson.

Cambridge Corn Exchange is the setting for the first sold-out night of James' La Petite Mort tour. Armed with a full sound and lighting set up, a new album that stands up to anything they've done before, they once again demonstrated why they're the most formidable live act in the land.

Tuesday, 11 November 2014

James opened their La Petite Mort tour with a sold out show at Oxford's O2 Academy - an intimate venue compared to some of the arenas on the tour, but they still thrilled with songs from their latest album as well as a mix of greatest hits and a few rarities plucked from their enormous catalogue of songs.

The addition of one of our favourite new
bands Blossoms to the James bill for the opening night of their La Petite Mort
tour was a pleasant surprise.Like every
step that’s been put in their way so far, they hurdled it effortlessly with
aplomb.

Monday, 10 November 2014

It’s been twelve months since Emma Stevens
released her debut album Enchanted.She’s back with Waves, a collection that cements her position as a
leading exponent of intelligent pop with a set of songs that burrow into your
sub- conscience and have you tapping your feet and nodding your head and
singing along.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

James warmed up for their two-week UK tour with an intimate 600 capacity show at Stirling Albert Halls with a set mixing classic hits, tracks from their new album La Petite Mort and a number of older tracks resurrected from their vast back catalogue.

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

We made the short trip over the Pennines to catch three bands who have not forgotten the art of creating simple emotive pop music that has you tapping your feet and singing along throughout. As The Heartbreaks played the first night of their short UK tour, they were supported by Sheffield's finest and Even The Stars favourites High Hazels and York four-piece The Blueprints.

To celebrate the life and legacy of John Peel ten years after his passing, Dub Sex played Sound Control in Manchester as part of a series of nationwide events. Long-term fan Richard Wills kindly volunteered to review the show for us.

Coves & Caves hail from Manchester and the Peak District and after four years of expanding then shrinking and experimenting, they've finally settled as a three-piece and completed their debut album Spinnerets.

Written over a 3 week period in a former industrial Mancunian heartland, Finnish Line is the fourth full length album from Mancunian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Alan Roberts aka Jim Noir.